Reviews

2017 Land Rover Range Rover Evoque Introduction

The Range Rover Evoque is about beauty, not all about beauty, but beauty above and beyond the offroad and traction capability that Land Rover is known for.

Evoque can be a three-door, a five-door, or a remarkable two-door convertible. All come with all-wheel drive.

Evoque doesn’t have any direct competitors due to its small size and luxury trim. Evoque’s competitors might include the Infiniti QX50, BMW X4 and Mercedes GLC, but it can work harder than them, while looking like a chopped and channeled hot rod that flew half a century into the future. It’s definitely dramatic.

The sole engine is a 2.0-liter turbocharged four cylinder making 240 horsepower, mated to a 9-speed automatic. The engine is punchy, which is good, and sounds a bit coarse, and we’re not sure if that’s good or bad. Since the Evoque is relatively light at 3600 pounds, it feels nimble for a Range Rover.

Evoque comes standard with what Land Rover calls Active Driveline, with active differentials and torque vectoring. The system decouples the rear wheels above 22 mph, and re-couples them within 300 milliseconds whenever drive is needed from the rear. For rugged terrain, All-Terrain Progress Control makes the vehicle crawl at any slow speed the driver sets, so the driver can focus on steering around rocks or trees or whatever. The all-wheel-drive system also includes hill descent control and trailer stability assist.

EPA-rate fuel Mileage is 21 mpg City, 29 Highway, 24 Combined. The convertible gets 1 mpg less because of its extra weight. Neither the NHTSA nor the IIHS has crash-tested the Evoque.